The King of Kings
The King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In 1927, working with one of the biggest budgets in Hollywood history, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into a silent-era blockbuster. Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands, and the great showman’s singular cinematic bag of tricks, The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this beloved film in a two-disc edition featuring both the 112-minute general-release version and the rarely seen 155-minute cut that premiered at the grand opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Special Features
- Restored digital transfers of both versions of the film: DeMille’s 155-minute roadshow version and his subsequent 112-minute general release
- New 5.1 surround scores by composers Donald Sosin (1927 version) and Timothy J. Tikker (1931 version), plus the original score for the 1931 release by Hugo Riesenfeld
- Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of The King of Kings
- Cast portraits by photographer W.M. Mortensen
- Production and costume sketches by renowned artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck
- Stills gallery of rare production and publicity photos
- Original illustrated program and press book featuring photographs from the film’s gala premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and studio correspondence from DeMille
- Original theatrical trailers
- Plus: a 1927 essay by DeMille, an excerpt from Robert S. Birchard’s book Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood, production notes, and a new essay by film critic Peter Matthews
New cover by Eric Skillman
Special Features
- Restored digital transfers of both versions of the film: DeMille’s 155-minute roadshow version and his subsequent 112-minute general release
- New 5.1 surround scores by composers Donald Sosin (1927 version) and Timothy J. Tikker (1931 version), plus the original score for the 1931 release by Hugo Riesenfeld
- Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of The King of Kings
- Cast portraits by photographer W.M. Mortensen
- Production and costume sketches by renowned artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck
- Stills gallery of rare production and publicity photos
- Original illustrated program and press book featuring photographs from the film’s gala premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and studio correspondence from DeMille
- Original theatrical trailers
- Plus: a 1927 essay by DeMille, an excerpt from Robert S. Birchard’s book Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood, production notes, and a new essay by film critic Peter Matthews
New cover by Eric Skillman
Cast
- H.B. Warner
- Jesus
- Dorothy Cumming
- Mary
- Jacqueline Logan
- Mary Magdalene
- Rudolph Schildkraut
- Caiaphas
- Sam De Grasse
- The Pharisee
- Casson Ferguson
- The Scribe
- Victor Varconi
- Pontius Pilate
- Majel Coleman
- Proculla
- Montagu Love
- Roman Centurion
- William Boyd
- Simon of Cyrene
- Micky Moore
- Mark
- Theodore Kosloff
- Malchus
- George Siegmann
- Barabbas
- Julia Faye
- Martha
- Josephine Norman
- Mary of Bethany
- Kenneth Thomson
- Lazarus
Credits
- Director
- Cecil B. DeMille
- Story and continuity
- Jeanie Macpherson
- Chief photography
- J. Peverell Marley
- Assisted by
- J.A. Badaracco
- Assisted by
- Fred Westerberg
- Assistant director
- Frank Urson
- Second assistants
- Roy Burns
- Second assistants
- William J. Cowen
- Art director
- Mitchell Leisen
- Set dresser
- Theodore Dickson
- Costumes
- Adrian
- Costumes
- Earl Luick
- Costumes
- Gwen Wakeling
- Associate film editor
- Clifford Howard
- Editing
- Anne Bauchens
- Editing
- Harold McLernon
- Research
- Elizabeth McGaffrey
- Color photography
- Technicolor
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